Wood joint



Feb.2l, 1950 A. v. PEDERSEN I 2,498,180

woon JOINT Filed May 31, 1946 v INVENTOR. 7% z k wf/Fzsz /v BY W Affaffleys Patented F eb. 21, 1950 UNITED STATES ENT" 0F FICE" z;749s,1s'0'ii woon Jom mmeeaasen, nosz-angeiesglcame Application May31, 1946*;5SrialNdL'673K335 (01520 -92) 5 Claims. 1

This invention: relates: to improvements inwoo'd joints, and maybe regarded as anzimprovement over. the disclosure made in: my copendingvappli cation (now abandoned): Serial; No; 516,067; filed December- 29, I 1943, entitled 'Truss construction;

In the above-mentioned application there disclosed a joint for use injoining the adjacent ends of adjacent lamination se'ctions'that-areused in the constructionof-roof trusses',':'arches,: and

the like,w-herei'n the adj'acentends f of adjacent I lamination sections each. have two tongues: disposed in side by side relationship and:whichrare oppositely scarfed with scarfs :of considerable slope, the preferred slope being in excess: of 1116. By having the adjacent ends of. adjacent lamina 'tionsecti'ons so formed. glue may be appliedztdthe sc'arfs and the lamination sections assemble'd togetherin end toen'd relationship The sloper'of the oppositely scarred tongues'is such that bend= ing moments'may bereadily'transmittdthereacross long prior to the setting of the' glua Corr.- sequently, inthe constructionof the curvedxupper chord of a truss orintheconstructionbran arch the lamination sections having-*the oppositely scarfed tongues may havethe glueaapplie'dthereto and'can be assembled toeetheri The -lamination sections canthen be immediatelybent around a form to the desired shape=witlioutwaitlng for-the glue to set inasmuch as the 'sc'aried"=-'tongues are capable of transmitting'these-bendihgmoments and will not open materially" event thoughsubjected to bending. Whentheglue hasdrieil' 'bee tween the laminations and between the scarfed tongues the-chord or arch is completed and=is highly advantageous'in thatbendingstresses are nations are not fully brought-together-leaving the joint loose stresses in the structure cannot betransmitted fully acrossthe joint due to -the looseness. On the-other hand'fif-ithe laminations are forced togetherwithtoo'gre'at aFforce.-.the

oppositelyscarfed tongues mayhave a tendency to split the laminationror'toiait least prestres's it in an undesirable manner. V a

Arrob'ject of the presentinventlon isrtomrovide' animprovedj'olntfof'thischaracter wherein the adjacent ends of adjacent laminations each 2: .v has a pair of? oppositely iscarfedztongues adapted toTengage-the complementary-tongue on the'ad .iacentse'ction andwhich is provided with an abut v meant-between thetongues. This abutment per-1' forms the function' 'ofrrpreventing the joint from being forced to'gether beyond the point designed so: that'there' is no danger of splitting the lami=- nation or pre'stre'ssings it and also serves? as: an indicator indicating' that" the joint when as:-' sembled is fully made: up: That is; the. tongues are brought together 'to zthe' 'properipoint where there is no'loosenessinsthe joint.

With the foregoing and other objects inview whichwillibe made manifest inithe followingde tailed description and specifically pointed out in the appended claimsglreference is had to the accompanying: drawings for? an illustrative embodi; ment ofthe'invention', wherein:-

Figure 1- is aiperspective viewof the improved wo'odi'j'ointiin its ifully made up 'or'clo'sediconditl'on'g's V Fig: 2 fe a-perspective view of one ofthe ends of the adjacent laminati'on sections making up the joint: illustrated in Fig; 1; and

FigLZ 3 iS2 a -ViEW in 'end elevationl'taken sub stantially "inane direction-"of the arrow 3 upon H252.

Referring to the accompanying drawings-wherein similar reference characters designate similar parts throughout, I D and I l indicate the adjacent ends *oftwo lamination sections such as are employed in the construction ofroof trusses; arches, and other'str'ucturalelements'. Each of these lamination sections'has its end'sh'aped to provide two' tonguesthe tongues on the'section ll being indicated at; Hand 13. Tl'ie'tongue I2 has its uppw-sid'e or face scarfed or" sloped as indicated at M from the top surface of the lamination section-down tothe bottomsurfaceof the laminationsectionr- In. asiinila'rmanner the bottom surface of the tongue I 3- l is 'scarf'e'd' as indicated at" l'iirithoppositerdirectionfromthe top surface of the lamination section to thebottom suriace tiiereofl' These-tongues'instead' of, being disposedinside by side relationship "as disclosed my" copendihg'" application; are somewhat spacedffrom' each other "and intermediate their lengths preferablyet thelongitudinal centers of are tongues'thereis a vertical" abuttingsurface 'l-fiextendihg, frbmitop'tobottom of therlamination sections The lamination sectionlu has'it's'end formedinidentieally the same manner.

As'f-set foi-tn*inmy' copending "applicati'onrthe slopes of the scarfs are preferablydn the nei'gli;

' borhood of 1:6 and while the exact slope of the scarf may vary at all events the slope should not be as steep as 45. When the soarfs are so steeply sloped I find that the joint is incapable of transmitting bending stresses prior to the time that the glue has set and has bonded the scarfed tongues together.

In making up a curved structural element such as an arch or top chord of a truss the lamination sections have glue applied to their top and bottom and to the scarfed surfaces at [4 and I5. The sections may then be assembled together by merely forcing one lamination section III longitudinally toward its companion lamination section II This forcing movement is'continued until the opposed abutting surfaces 16 are in mutual engagement. When-"these- Sim faces mutually engage they'prevent the joint from being brought together any tighter and thus preventing any danger of splitting the lamination sections or prestressing the wood thereof. As long as the abutting surfaces I G are not in mutual engagement the slight space therebetween indicates that the joint has not been fully closed or brought together. Consequently,

any space between the abutting surfaces funtions as an indicator that the sections Ill and H should be forced together with great effort so that opposed scarfed surfaces will be brought into firm mutual engagement between which the glue may form a very strong adhesive bond. After the sections have been thus assembled together they may be immediately placed on a bending form and bent immediately to the required shape. This may be performed long prior to the setting or drying of the glue inasmuch as the shape of the scarfed ends renders the joint capable of transmitting bending moments despite the presence or absence of the glue. The joint will not open even though subjected to bending although the extreme ends of the tongues may under extreme conditions tend'to separate from the opposed lamination section. However, as the laminations are stacked one against the other in forming an arch or top chord of l a truss and thejoints are normally staggered any'tendency of the extreme ends of the tongues to separate is corrected by the overlying center portion of the overlying lamination. When the glue has set or dried the structure is completed and may be removed from the form.

While the improved joint has been primarily designed for use in the construction of arches and'truss chords it will be appreciated that it may be advantageously employed wherever it is designed to connect the ends of two pieces of wood or planks in such a manner that bending stresses may be readily transmitted across the joint. The improved joint is highly advantageous in that the abutting surfaces at [5 between the tongues prevent the parts of the joint from being forced together to an excessive degree and serve as a readily visible indicator indicating whether or not the joint has been fully made up as designed. The abutting surfaces i6 which are in mutual engagement can, of course, transmit no great bending stressesand consequently the areas of these surfaces should be keptrelatively small as compared with the entire cross-sectional areas of the lamination. Any

adequate area that will serve as a positive abutment preventing the joint from being forced together excessively and which willv indicate whether the joint has not been brought together adequately will suffice. t

., adjacent sections each have upwardly and downwardly scarfed tongues, and abutments arranged between the tongues limiting the extent to which the endsmay be forced together to have their 'scarfed surfaces mutually engageable.

2. A' wood joint wherein the adjacent ends of adjacent sections each have upwardly and downwardly scarfed tongues, said tongues being laterally spaced from each other, there being mutually engageable surfaces between the scarfed tongueson each .end adapted to engage to limit the extent to which the ends may be forced together and to serve as an indicator indicating when the joint has been inadequately assembled.

3. A wood joint wherein adjacent ends of adjacent sections have upwardly and downwardly 'scarfed tongues, the scarfs extending diagonally from the front of each of the members to the back of the member and from the back of each of the members to the front of the member, said tongues being laterally spaced from each other, there being mutually engageable surfaces be tween the scarfed tongues on each end adapted to limit the extent to which the ends may be forced together and to serve as an indicator indicating when the joint has been inadequately assembled, said engaging surfaces being located between the beginning of the scarfs and the end of the scarfs.

4. A wood joint wherein adjacent ends of adjacent sections have upwardly and downwardly scarfed tongues, and abutments arranged between the tongues limiting the extent to which the ends may be forced together to have their scarfed surfaces mutually engageable, said abutments being located so that the tongues on opposite members slide by the abutments when the members are placed together.

5. A wood joint wherein adjacent ends of'adjacent sections each have upwardly and downwardly scarfed tongues, and abutments arranged between the tongues limiting the extent to which the ends may be forced together to have their scarfed surfaces mutually engageable, the abutments extending substantially perpendicular to the members and extending from one side of each member to the other side of the member.

. AXEL V. PEDERSEN.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Switzerland 1920 

